Hogwarts a History
by Flying Zuccini
Summary: Hermione just wanted to get her book published. When Draco Malfoy calls her asking all kinds of questions about the Founders, she finds herself setting out on an adventure to find something that no one knew the Founders had left behind.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Yes a new story! I am not abandoning my other story, so don't worry! I will updating both of them as often as possible.

For now this story is rated T for language, but it could change to M in the future, just a warning.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"I'm sorry Miss Granger, as much as I enjoyed your book that answer is still no, I will not be publishing your book. You might also want to rethink the title before you submit it to any other publishers."

"What? What is wrong with my title?" Hermione said, exasperated and now slightly offended.

"Well, you can't exactly call it 'Hogwarts a History – Abridged' when it is longer than the original version," the editor said.

"But it is abridged! It doesn't have all of the information that the first one did! Just the important parts, as well as all of the other facts that I discovered during my research."

"I'm sorry Miss Granger. I suggest that you don't quit your day job. You write well but no one is interested in the things that you right about. Have a nice day and good luck," and with that the line went dead.

"Damn it!" Hermione said for what must have been the thousandth time in the last few weeks.

She had been trying to get her book published for almost a month now and no one was interested. Almost immediately after she had graduated she had begun working on it. After six months of extensive research and another three months of writing she had finally finished what she was calling 'Hogwarts a History – Abridged'. That editor had been right though, it was longer than the original. She also could not understand why no one was interested in it. The history of Hogwarts was actually very fascinating if people would actually take the time to learn about it.

One look at the clock on her kitchen wall told her that if she did want to keep her day job she would have to move very fast. She was already dressed so it didn't take long to fill her travel mug with coffee and run out the door. Luckily for her the Ministry wasn't too far from her flat and she managed to make it there on time.

Even though her job was not at all glamorous and was actually pretty dangerous, Hermione enjoyed it. Her official title was Head of Potions Testing and Improvement at the Ministry of Magic. Basically she tested potions that other witches and wizards had invented to see if they worked properly. If the potions didn't work right she suggested to them what they could change to make them work. Potions was the last subject that she would have ever thought of having a career in while she was in her first five years of school. After Professor Snape had begun teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and had then been killed she had found that she actually enjoyed Potion and that she was quite good at it.

Her dream job was to become an author and educate the people of the Wizarding World, but this was a pretty good job to have until she was able to that. It paid well too because of the high chance of explosions while on the job. She smiled at the thought, she was quite proud that neither she nor any of the other workers had had an explosion in nearly a month. She intended to keep it that way. Poor Edgar had just managed to get his eyebrows to grow back after a mishap with a hair strengthening potion gone wrong about four months ago.

Hermione was excited about the work that she would be doing this week. Someone had finally begun to sort through Severus Snape's file system a few months ago. Today was the day that she was going to have access to the Potion Master's works in progress. Snape had invented a fair amount of potions in his day, but of course he had never bragged about any of it. The man had been a genius and Hermione was honoured to be one of the ones who would be looking at his personal notes.

As she walked into the dimly lit laboratory she could see many of her workers in and already hard at work. She could see the tightly bound package on her desk in the far corner, but she knew that she had to make her usual rounds before she would be able to start on her own work.

She started by walking over to Hilarie's desk. Hilarie was a tiny woman whose glasses took of most of her face. Her hair was always falling out of the messy ponytail that she wore it in and hanging in her face. The sight of it made Hermione cringe, she really didn't need anyone catching their head on fire.

Hilarie had been working relentlessly on the same potion for almost a month. From what Hermione could see, she wasn't making any progress. She knew that she should take the burden from her and assign it to someone else, but she wanted to give the shy woman a chance. It was a memory potion that could be given in different strengths to cause a person to lose specific memories. Hermione already knew what needed to be done to it to fix it, but she also knew that Hilarie would be able to figure it out eventually.

"Making any progress?" Hermione asked

"Oh!" Hilarie was so startled the she dropped the mouse that she was holding. "I think so, the mice finally seem to be responding properly."

"Well, good work then," Hermione said eager to get around to everyone and get started on her own work.

Next she came to Edgar's desk. The quality of his work had much improved since his hair accident and he was working on a complicated potion that was supposed to be able to extract the water out of just about anything. The idea was for travelers, rather than having to lug water around with them they could put a few drops of the potion onto something and clean drinking water would be drained out of it.

"How's it going Edgar?" Hermione asked, trying not to stare at his patchy eyebrows.

"Pretty good, I've managed to get water out of a lot of things," he said gesturing at a mushroom, a piece of wood and some grass. "Nothing that isn't alive yet though," he said pointing to the t-shirt and the button on the other side of the table.

"Well, good work Edgar, I'm sure you'll get it."

Hermione finished her rounds quickly. She was glad to see that just about everyone was making progress and that no one appeared to be anywhere near making something explode. She liked to let the workers figure things out themselves, as long as it wasn't putting the rest of the crew in danger.

Finally she was seated behind her own heaping desk. She had already had to replace her desk three times because it was not large enough to hold all of the paperwork and equipment that she needed. Now here it was, full again. She reached for the brown package on the top of the pile, pushing everything else aside. She used her wand to cut the twine and carefully opened the package. She knew that copies had been made of everything before these notes had been given to her, but she also didn't want to ruin any of the original work.

The first thing she did after extracting the notes was wave her wand at them to make her own copies that she could take home. Technically she wasn't supposed to do this without the owner's permission, but Professor Snape wasn't alive anymore and she hoped that he wouldn't mind her making copies of his notes to study later. She checked to make sure that none of the other crew members were watching and she shoved the notes into her bag, closing the zipper over top of them.

Just as Hermione was about to settle in for some quiet reading she heard a BANG from across the room. She quickly looked over at Skeet, a young man who had been working on a truthfulness potion and saw that he was covered in a green, luminous substance. With a sigh she put the notes aside and went over to try and help.

* * *

A few hours and three averted disasters later Hermione decided to go home. She wasn't going to get any work done in the lab anyway because she wanted to read through some of the notes before attempting to make something. She waved goodbye to Hilarie who was the only one still in the lab and started the short walk home.

On the way up her buildings front steps she started to get that distinct feeling that she was forgetting something. It was a nagging thought in the back of her head that she just couldn't put her finger on. She shook her head and told herself she was just frustrated that she had spent the whole afternoon in the lab and had not read a single word of Professor Snape's notes.

She slid into her apartment and dropped her keys onto the counter. She poured herself a cold glass of iced tea and went to sit down in her small, but cozy, living room. She had just settled in and was about to pull out the stack of paper when she distantly heard the phone ringing in the kitchen. Cursing under her breath she got up and ran for it. She caught in on the very last ring.

"Hello?" she said in an impatient voice.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice asked through the speaker. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Oh no Harry, I've just had a long day and was about to sit down and do some reading. What's up?" Hermione said, letting out a breath of air.

"Oh…Well, I was just wondering if you were going to meet us at the Weasley's or if you were going to go straight to the school…" Harry's voice trailed off.

"What are you…" Suddenly Hermione remember what she had forgotten. How stupid of her! She had just been thinking about this morning how it been about a year since she graduated and started writing her book. It hadn't been about a year! It had been exactly a year and she was due to be at Ginny's graduation ceremony in an hour.

"Hermione, are you still there?"

"Of course Harry, I'll meet you at Hogwarts, six-o-clock right?" she asked him.

"Yeah, are you sure you're alright Hermione?"

"I'm fine Harry, I'll see you in an hour," she said, hanging up her phone.

Hermione gave the thick stack of papers one last longing look before rushing into her bedroom to get changed. Luckily for her, her bedroom was very organized and she did not own many clothes. It didn't take long for her to get ready.

An hour later she was standing on the grounds outside of Hogwarts feeling slightly flustered. Hermione was, by nature, a very organized and punctual person and she had found herself rushing to make it places on time all day. First it was that editor distracting her this morning and then it was Snape's notes.

She scanned the group of people standing outside of the Hogwarts gates and found Harry quickly. It was easy to spot him when he was surrounded by a sea of red hair. She could see Charlie, George and Angelina, Percy and Audrey (who was looking very pregnant) and Ron. She noticed that Bill and Fleur weren't there and remembered that the two had just had a baby the month before.

She smiled and waved at them before making her way over to where they were all standing. As soon as Mrs. Weasley saw her, her face broke into a smile. Hermione had to hide her grimace. Molly was the only Weasley who didn't seem to be able to accept the fact that Hermione and Ron would never again be a couple. The two of them had had some fun while they were in school, but they both realized pretty quick that they could never be more than just friends.

"Hey Hermione, glad you could make it," Harry said with a sly grin.

"I wouldn't miss it," she said. She gave him a smile back even though she had almost missed it.

"It's almost time kids!" Mrs. Weasley said, even though all of them were now adults. "We should get a move on!"

With Molly and Arthur leading the way, the group of them stepped onto the grounds of Hogwarts. Although Hermione had spent the last year researching this place, she had not once returned to it. She didn't know what she had been expected but she was surprised to find that it looked exactly the same. It seemed as if something should have changed within the year following the defeat of Voldemort.

She walked quietly beside Harry. Although he was still dating Ginny, she knew that he had not been back to the school either. She wondered if everything looked the same to him. Suddenly she heard a breath catch in Harry's throat and she followed his gaze over towards the lake. On the far side from where they were standing she could see the white, stone tomb that she knew held Dumbledore's body.

"Blimey, it all looks just the same," Ron said, breaking the silence.

"What were you expecting dear?" Mrs. Weasley said.

"I don't know…It just seems like something should be different," Ron said.

The group fell back into silence. Hermione turned and caught Ron's eye, they shared a smile. She was glad that she was not alone in her feelings. She knew that if anyone would understand how she felt it would be Harry and Ron.

Once inside the Great Hall, Mrs. Weasley bustled around to try and find seats for them all together. After a while and a few unsuccessful attempts at getting people to move, she realized that this wasn't going to be possible. Hermione found herself sitting alone with Ron and Harry.

"How have you two been?" she asked once they were sitting. "How's the auror training going?"

"It's bloody tiring," Ron said.

"It's worth it though," Harry said, giving him a look. "In a few more months we'll be ready to write our exams and be allowed out in the field."

"Yeah, you know, even with You-Know…Voldemort gone, the world still needs some protection," Ron said.

After he said this a heavy silence hung over them until the ceremony started. It was still strange to sit in the Great Hall without Dumbledore at the front, even after two years of him not being there. Professor McGonagall made a short speech before beginning to call out the names of the graduating students.

"Colin Creevey! Congratulations!" The short brown-haired boy hurried across the front of the Hall to receive his diploma with a wide grin splitting his face.

In between Tyler Harper and Luna Lovegood Hermione noticed that there was something different in the school. There were portraits at the front of the school that hadn't been there before. She saw Dumbledore's twinkling eyes looking down at her as well as Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Cedric Diggory, Fred Weasley and the many others that had given their lives during the battle against Voldemort.

"Zacharias Smith! Graduating with honours in Potions," McGonagall called as Hermione focused on the portrait of Professor Snape high above her on the wall. If she didn't know any better she would have said that he was staring at her.

"Ginny Weasley," the headmistress called finally. "Graduating with honours in Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts." Hermione could hear all of the Weasleys spread throughout the Hall erupt into cheers.

Finally after what Hermione thought was a very confusing speech from Luna Lovegood, the valedictorian, the ceremony was over. As much as Hermione loved Ginny and wanted to support her, she currently wanted nothing more than to go home and read those notes. She felt Ron tugging on her sleeve and she rose from her seat to go and see Ginny.

The petite redhead was beaming at them as they walked over to her. Harry took Ginny in his arms and kissed her, his pride showing on his face. Ginny blushed as she noticed the whole family standing around her. Hermione turned to tell her congratulations on graduating with honours but was quickly interrupted.

"Are you ready to go out to dinner Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Dinner? Tonight?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I found a really nice man that I think you will find very interesting," Ginny said with a sly smile.

Ever since Hermione and Ron had broken up, Ginny had been trying to set her up. For some reason the younger girl didn't like the idea of Hermione being alone and felt the need to force all of these handsome and intelligent men on Hermione. Hermione didn't know where Ginny was finding all of these men, but so far even their intelligence and good looks had left something to be desired.

"Does it have to be tonight Ginny? I was really just wanting to-"

"You are not going home to read alone in your flat Hermione! Biff is really a gentleman and he was looking forward to going out with you tonight!"

"Biff? Ginny, please tell me that this man's name is not Biff."

"Oh come on Hermione, you can't judge a man by his name!" Ginny said, tugging on her best friend's arm.

* * *

"I most certainly can judge a man by his name!" Hermione said to herself and she stomped into her flat three hours later. "What kind of stupid name is Biff anyway?" Biff had turned out to be a very muscular man with more teeth than brains. Clearly Ginny had been trying to go more for looks than intelligence with this one.

Biff had been utterly boring and Hermione had found herself glaring across the table at Ginny more often than not throughout the evening while Harry tried not to laugh into his potatoes. At least she hadn't had to think too hard. Biff's favourite topic of conversation was clearly Biff so all Hermione had had to do was smile and nod in all of the appropriate places and, like a puppy, Biff had been happy.

Now after what felt like three days, rather than three hours, Hermione was finally home and would be able to read those notes. She was about to sit down when she decided that she wasn't going to allow herself anymore distractions. She was on her way into the kitchen to unplug the phone when it started ringing.

"Oh, damn it all to Hell! I bloody well give up!"

* * *

AN: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, the next one should be up sometime in the next few days. I promise it will get more interesting.

Please review to let me know what you think of it so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hello?" she practically screeched.

"Good evening," a confident male voice said. "Is this the author of the new Hogwarts a History book?"

The New Hogwarts a History. That wasn't a bad title, Hermione thought, wondering if she would be able to use that since, clearly, her original title wasn't working for her.

"This is she, who is calling?" Hermione was confused, she called the editors and bugged them, they didn't call and bug her.

"I'm calling from the publishing branch of Malfoy Enterprises. I am very interested in your book and would like to edit and publish it myself."

"You would?" Wait…did he say _Malfoy_ Enterprises?

"Yes, someone in the editing department mentioned your book to me a few weeks ago and it peaked my interest. I loved the original Hogwarts a History and was excited to read a new version. Even if you already have a publisher I would still love to meet with you to discuss some of the new information that you have added to the original. I found it a fascinating read. I loved your take on the original Founders' story and would love to read any books that you could recommend as to where you got the information from."

A fascinating read? That was not even close to what she had heard from every other publishing company that she had contacted. But Malfoy Enterprises?

"I'm sorry, did you say you were calling from Malfoy Enterprises?" Hermione finally found her voice.

"Yes, my name is Draco Malfoy and I'd like to publish your book," he said.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Hermione said before slamming her phone into the receiver.

It was official, this had been the craziest day of her life. It seemed as if Merlin and the Fates were working together, plotting against her. Clearly something was trying to stop her from reading Professor Snape's notes. Well, she wasn't going to be delayed any longer. She reached behind the counter and pulled the phone cord out of the jack. It was late but she was not going to be distracted anymore. And did Draco Malfoy really just say that he loved Hogwarts a History?

* * *

When Hermione finally did dig into the late professor's notes, she was not disappointed. The man had been working on many important things and she knew that she was very privileged to be the first and currently only one to be reading them. She knew that Snape had invented many spells and potions even in his Hogwarts days from reading the notes in Harry's old potions textbook.

His notes were organized and complex. The processes described were detailed and obviously very precise. Hermione looked forward to getting to the lab first thing the next morning to try some of them out. She looked at the clock and knew that she would have to go to bed soon if she planned on being on time for work in the morning. She hurriedly looked down at the first sheet of parchment.

**Potion of Invisibility**

**Status: **_completed_

**Description: **_a potion that renders the drinker complete invisible until the counter potion is consumed_

**Side Notes/Complications: **_while the drinker is invisible, they are still able to be hit with spells. Maybe a shield potion can be incorporated later to stop or hinder spells?_

**Ingredients:**

_4 Demiguise Hairs_

_9 Crushed Black Beetle Eyes_

_3 tsp powdered Romanian Longhorned Dragon Horn_

_1 ½ Hellebore Leaves_

_½ Rat Spleen_

_5 Aged Valerian Roots_

_1tsp Wartcap Powder_

_3mL Salamander Blood_

_5mL Flobberworm Mucus_

**Notes on Ingredients: **

_Demiguise Hairs and Hellebore Leaves create invisibility – Hellebore is poisonous, Salamander Blood counteracts the poisonous effects_

_Flobberworm Mucus has no magical property, is only used to thicken the potion_

**Process**_**:**_

_Fill one standard sized cauldron with distilled water_

_Add Demiguise Hairs one at a time at ten second intervals_

_Add crushed Beetle Eyes and stir three times clockwise_

_Add Rom. Drgn horn and stir twice counterclockwise_

_Crumble Hell. Leaves between thumb and index finger and sprinkle into potion – do not stir_

_Add in rat spleen and stir clockwise ten times vigorously_

_Add Val. Roots at two minute intervals – stir once clockwise after each added root_

_Add Wartcap Powder into centre of cauldron, stir counterclockwise five times quickly_

_Cover and let stand for two days_

_Add Sal. Blood – do not stir!_

_Add Flwrm. Mucus – stir clockwise 16 times slowly_

_Store potion at exactly six degrees Celsius until use_

**Counter Potion:**

_Complete steps 1 through 11 in reverse (order and stirring direction)_

Hermione had never even considered an invisibility potion before, she had just assumed it was impossible. A potion like this would be very sought after and would cause a lot of public interest. She read the instructions again and shuddered at the complexity. It was hard to master all of the different ways of stirring, not to mention that some of the ingredients were quite obscure and therefore expensive. If she wanted to try and make this potion, she would have to have some of them specially ordered to the lab.

Hermione marveled at the thought process that it must have taken to invent this potion. It was a very hard thing to figure out the way certain ingredients would react together and to actually get them all to work together the way you wanted. That was what all of the different stirring was for. The chemicals in each ingredient mixed together differently depending on how they were stirred.

If an invisibility potion was the first one on the stack, Hermione wondered what else she would come across while reading through these notes. She wanted to read more, but she checked the clock and was surprised again at how late it was. It was almost three in the morning, she had to be up in four hours to get ready for work. She looked sadly at the thick stack of parchment before putting them onto the coffee table and heading into her room for bed.

* * *

The next day passed very quickly for Hermione, before she knew it she was on her way home. She had not gotten much work done herself after realizing that her lab had less than half of the needed ingredients in stock. After placing orders for all of the other ingredients, she found that she didn't have much else to do.

She was about to read through some more of Snape's notes were she heard Hilarie exclaim from across the room. She was up from her desk in seconds and rushing over to where the small woman stood behind her work table. Hermione would not allow two accidents in as many days to happen in her lab. She had to stop whatever Hilarie was doing before something exploded.

"Hilarie?" she called out. "What is it? What's wrong?"

But nothing was wrong. As it turned out, Hilarie had finally made a breakthrough in her research. Hermione watched as the little mice walked around on the desk. The mice were specially trained to know how to do certain things, such as walk in a small circle and stand up on their back paws, on command. Either the mice had suddenly forgotten how to do their tricks, or Hilarie had finally gotten the potion to work properly.

"All I did was add Ashwinder Eggs!" she exclaimed. "All this time and that's all it was!"

Hermione had actually suspected for a while that this was all that the potion had needed but she was glad that Hilarie had figured it out on her own. Hilarie had worked in the lab for a full three months now and had not, up until this point, successfully reworked any of the potions.

"That's great Hilarie. Make up another batch of the potion so that I can check it. I have a feeling we'll be able to send this potion back to head office before we leave here tonight," Hermione said to her with a smile.

Hermione spent the next hour checking the potion and was pleased to discover that Hilarie (and herself) had gotten it right. The only missing ingredient was Ashwinder Eggs. She packaged up a vial of the potion and the paperwork and had it sent by owl post back to the head office. It had been almost a month, Hermione was sure that they would be glad to have the potion back and ready for use.

As Hermione walked into her kitchen she remembered that her phone was still unplugged from the night before. She reached down the back of the counter to plug it back in. Standing back up, she noticed the blinking light on the side of the phone. She had twelve new voicemails. She was about to pick up the receiver to listen to them when the phone started ringing. Startled, Hermione jerked her hand back away from the phone. Thinking that she really needed to get caller ID so that she could screen her calls she reached for the phone.

"Hello?" she said tentatively.

"Hello? Oh thank Merlin, I've been trying to call you all day!"

"Malfoy?"

"Yes, this is Draco Malfoy calling, we spoke last night before you so kindly hung up on me."

"You've been trying to call me all day?"

"Yes, I told you, I want to publish your book. Are you sure you are the woman that wrote the book? I was under the impression that she was intelligent," Draco said.

"Oh! You vile, arrogant man! Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, since I've been calling all day I would hope that I am speaking to the author of Hogwarts a History – Abridged."

"It's Hermione Granger."

"Oh…I had no idea," Draco said finally.

"Clearly. I thought you were joking when you called last night and said that you wanted to publish my book. Then I thought maybe your friend just hadn't told you my name. Anyway Malfoy, as much as I truly enjoy talking to you, I'm going to go now, I have more important things to do. Such as watering my plants and cleaning my ears," Hermione went to hang up the phone.

"Granger wait!" she heard when the phone was halfway down.

"What Malfoy? You can't let me have the last word? You just need to insult me once for good measure?"

"No, I have grown up in the last year you know. I really did enjoy your book. As much as I loathe you I would still like to publish it. Malfoy Enterprises is a well known company, we would be good for a breakout author like yourself, unlike all of the other many offers I'm sure you've gotten."

"Many offers…right Malfoy, are you serious? How do I know you aren't trying to fool me to get something out of this?"

"Why would I do that? We aren't had Hogwarts anymore, there is no using you to get to Potter anymore. You're the one who would be gaining from this deal."

"Why would you want to do that then? The last I checked, you were only out to gain for yourself." Hermione said.

"Like I said, I really enjoyed the book. I found the original fascinating and I really would like to speak with you about your Founders theories."

"Well, alright," Hermione said finally. "I'm not saying that I want you to edit the book indefinitely, but I suppose we could meet to discuss it and see how it goes from there."

"Sounds great, how about tomorrow at my place?"

"At your house?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"Ok, how about my office then?"

* * *

Hermione woke up on Saturday morning from a strange dream. Before she even had time to rest on the details, she had forgotten them. As much as she tried, she could not remember the dream. She shook it off and remembered that she had to get ready to go to Malfoy Enterprises to meet Malfoy.

She climbed out of bed, not feeling rested at all. She glanced at the clock, it was almost ten. She had a little more than an hour before she had to be there. She turned to her closet. What did someone wear when they were going to a business meeting with their previously sworn enemy?

After a half an hour of putting on and discarding different outfits she finally settled on a fitted black pencil skirt and a flowing purple blouse. As she finished putting on her lipstick and brushing her long, thick hair she began contemplating her decision. She couldn't believe that she was even considering working with Malfoy. Maybe she was just desperate to get her book published, he _was_ the only one that had shown any interest in it.

Finally it was time to go. She stepped out of her flat (which was a no apparition zone) and apparated to the location that Malfoy had described to her the day before. She suddenly found herself standing in front of a massive office building. She had never been to Malfoy Enterprises before but she had heard about it. It was a multimillion galleon business that had been open years before Draco was born. Hermione had had no idea that they even had a publishing branch.

She walked in the large, glass front doors and was immediately greeted by a guard. She suddenly felt underdressed, even the guard was wearing a suit. He was a large man who appeared to have been hired more for his size that his brains. Hermione was suddenly reminded of poor Biff and had to fight down a smile as the man spoke to her.

"What is your business at Malfoy Enterprises today Miss?" he asked her.

"My name is Hermione Granger, I have a meeting with Draco Malfoy today about my book."

"Of course Miss," the guard said, looking surprised. "Mr. Malfoy is expecting you. Jean will take you up there now," he said gesturing to a blond woman sitting behind the front desk.

"Right this way Miss Granger," the woman said, plastering a smile on her face.

Hermione looked from one to the other, hardly believing that she was actually doing this. Looking at Jean's smile she suddenly felt an urge to run out the door and back to her flat and her quiet life in the Potions Department of the Ministry. Why did she want to be an author anyway?

Shaking her head, she finally walked over to where Jean was waiting. She followed the lean woman over to a clear glass elevator. Jean pushed the green button on the wall and with a ding the elevator door opened. Hermione followed her inside and was immediately surprised by the size of the elevator. Apparently it used the same kind of magic that the tents they had slept in during the Quidditch Cup did because it was much larger inside than it appeared from the outside.

"It has an Enlargement Charm on it," Jean explained, seeing Hermione's surprised look. "It can hold seventy-five people pretty comfortably."

"That's…impressive," Hermione said, unsure of what to say to that.

The elevator stopped and the two women stepped out. "There are a lot of impressive things around here," Jean said looking up.

Hermione followed her gaze to the plaque of the door in front of them. It read **Draco Malfoy – Owner and President of Malfoy Enterprises**. Hermione turned to find Jean gone, apparently she wasn't going to see Hermione into the office. Hermione straightened her back preparing for the worst as she raised a hand to knock softly on the wooden door.

* * *

So there's chapter 2. I hope you guys liked it. I only got two reviews for chapter 1 but I already have three chapters of this story written so I figured I might as well post this anyway.

Thanks to the two of you who did review, please let me know what you thought of this one. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She had barely finished knocking when the heavy wooden door swung open in front of her. She found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. It was suddenly even stranger for her to be here. She had seen him every day for seven years and now she had not seen him for a whole year.

He hadn't changed much. His hair was slightly longer and fell neatly around his neck, almost to his shoulders. He looked as if he had lost some weight, his features more defined, yet he looked healthier than when she had last seen him at Hogwarts. She assumed that he was not as stressed and rundown now as he had been during that last horrible year.

She remembered being surprised during her seventh year to see Malfoy there. After the final battle the school had reopened. She and many of her fellow students had had months of school work to catch up on before they were able to graduate. Many of the Slytherins didn't come back to Hogwarts after that. Most of them had had parents who had ended up in Azkaban or had fled the country, taking their families with them.

Draco's parents had both gone to Azkaban, despite their slight change of heart during the final battle. Instead of staying alone with the house elves in Malfoy Manor, he had come back and completed his year at Hogwarts with the rest of them. He had kept to himself mostly since there were only two or three other Slytherin seventh years left and everyone had left him alone as well.

"Granger," he nodded, gesturing for her to come inside.

"Malfoy," she replied, following him back into his office.

Before sitting down she surveyed the room. The first thing that she noticed was that it was huge, the second was the wall. It was hard not to notice the wall. Malfoy's office was obviously positioned on a corner of the building. Two of the walls were made of two uncut pieces of glass. There were blinds that could be pulled across the windows but, judging by the dust on them, they had not been pulled for a while.

"I never would have expected this," she mused.

"Expected what Granger?" Malfoy snapped. "Are you insulting my office?"

"No, I just never would have thought you would want to be in a place so open. I've never seen so much glass in my life. You have glass doors, a glass elevator, glass walls," she said gesturing around the office. "After living your whole life in dungeons, I would have thought you would be accustomed to the dark and dreary."

"Just because someone is accustomed to something does not mean that they like it," Draco said softy. "Besides, glass is modern, it's in style," he added quickly.

"Sure, whatever. Let's get this over with," Hermione said, sitting down in the chair directly across from his desk.

"Of course," he said, taking his own seat. "First order of business if I'm going to be editing this book is the title."

"I don't recall agreeing to let you edit my book yet Malfoy."

"I did say _if_," he said, rolling his eyes at her.

"I don't even care anymore. I've had so many complaints about that title that we could change it to Salamander Pus for all I care."

"Ok Granger, let's just cut the crap and get to the real reason that you are here."

"Ah huh! I knew there was something in this for you!"

"Did you really just say ah huh? Never mind…Of course there is something in this for me! Do you really think that I would be willing to work with you if there wasn't? I want to know where you got your information about the Founders." Draco said angrily.

"You know, you keep saying that about the Founders, I really don't know what you're talking about. From what I can recall, I didn't add much information that wasn't already in the original book."

"No, you didn't, which is why I want to know where you got the information from in the first place."

"Why are you so interested in the Founders anyway Malfoy?"

"Have you ever noticed how little information there is about them? It's like something is being hidden from us."

"But why does it matter, why do you care so much about four people who died thousands of years ago?"

"Not four people Granger, just two of them. I want to know what happened to Slytherin and Ravenclaw after they left Hogwarts."

"What do you mean they? Slytherin left Hogwarts, not Ravenclaw."

"You're wrong, you said it yourself in your book. Salazar left Hogwarts and Rowena soon after that. The only difference is, Slytherin didn't come back, Ravenclaw did and shortly after she died of a broken heart! Do you really think that that is a coincidence?" Malfoy was practically yelling now.

"Um, yes?" Hermione said slowly. "What would suggest that they were romantically involved?"

"I don't know, I just have this feeling and I can't stop thinking about it."

* * *

Draco stared across his antique desk at Hermione. He had to make her understand, he had to get her to work with him. He had to figure out this mystery before it drove him crazy. He couldn't understand why he was so compelled to it in the first place, he just was.

It had all started in his fifth year when he had read Hogwarts a History for the first time. When he had reached the chapter about the Founders he had been extremely intrigued. He had soon found himself very disappointed when he realized that there was actually very little information contained there. After that he had spent way more of his time that he would ever admit in the library trying to find more information. He could find nothing.

What particularly drew him was Ravenclaw's eight month absence. He knew that Slytherin had gone off because of a disagreement with Gryffindor and had eventually done some pretty evil things, but what happened before that? Why had she left so soon after him and why had no one ever researched this and found out before?

It had quickly become an obsession for him. He could not stop thinking about it, he couldn't stop looking for more books about the Founders. It was slowly driving him insane. One of his colleagues knew that he was interested in the history of Hogwarts so he had immediately informed him about Hermione's book. Draco had had a copy of the manuscript in his hands only a few hours later.

At first he had been disappointed all over again. Hermione's version truly didn't have much more about the Founders in it than the original had, but it did have one thing. It had one line that had led him to believe that the author shared his views. It was his one hope that there was someone out there that might believe what he did. He had immediately called the author without even looking at her name to try and set up a meeting.

"Malfoy?" Draco realized that she had been speaking while he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Ok then, explain this line to me then," he said pulling an extremely rumpled-looking copy of the manuscript out of the top drawer of his desk.

"_And Rowena followed Salazar from the school and the four friends were divided until their deaths_," Hermione read the sentence that he pointed to.

"Why would you say that she followed him if you didn't think that she left for him?" Draco asked her.

"Malfoy, I really think you are reading way too far into this. That thought never even crossed my head, I'm pretty sure I actually got the wording from another book-"

"What book?" Draco interrupted impatiently.

"I don't remember!" Hermione said loudly. "I researched this book for six months before I wrote it, do you really think I can remember off the top of my head where the inspiration for one sentence came from?"

* * *

Hermione was really beginning to regret ever coming here. Malfoy might not look that much different but, like Hogwarts, he obviously was. Hermione was actually wondering if his mind was coming unhinged. He seemed so desperate to have this puzzle revealed to him. It was a puzzle that she had no idea even existed up until this point.

"Do you have a list?" he asked.

"A list of what?" she was starting to feel really annoyed.

"A list of the books you used for references!"

"Of course I do, but it's at my flat and it's probably thirty pages," she told him.

"If I could just look at it I could cross off the books that I've already looked at and narrow it down…"

"Well, I suppose I could mail you a copy," Hermione told him.

"No, it'll take too long, we can go get it right now."

"You're not coming to my flat!" Hermione exclaimed. "You have lost your bloody mind Malfoy!"

"I have not," he said with a smirk. "I'm just very studious."

"I don't know Malfoy, I mean, I really only came here as one last desperate attempt to get my book published. Despite what I told you last night, I haven't had any other offers, just a very long stream of rejections. You are the first person to show any interest in it whatsoever. As much as I want to have it published, I don't know if I want to work with you, especially if you're going to be acting like a crazy person," she told him sternly.

"I'm not crazy, I just really feel that there is some huge unsolved mystery here that someone needs to tap into. I meant what I said though, I really do want to publish your book. I was a bit put off of course when I found out that you wrote it," Hermione glared at him, "But I'm still willing to edit and publish it if you're willing to help me with my own research."

"I just don't know Malfoy, I'm very busy right now. I've got a job at the Ministry and I have all of these notes that I've been trying to read through for almost three days now. I don't think I'll have time for anymore research."

"Come on Granger, just let me come to your flat. You know you want me to," he said with a smirk.

"Wow Malfoy, for a second there I almost forgot you were an arrogant prat," Hermione said. "I think we're about done," she got up to leave.

"Hermione wait," Hermione turned at the sound of her first name. "I really do want to edit your book and I think I need your help with this Founder business. Don't you think that there's a possibility that I'm right? That Rowena fell in love with Salazar and followed him away from Hogwarts?"

"I suppose it could be possible," she said with a sigh.

"And if it is possible, don't you want to know what they did in those eight months that they were together?"

"Alright Malfoy, let's go."

* * *

A few minutes later Hermione was showing her childhood enemy into her flat. She was glad that the place was at least clean. Sometime during her busy last few days she had managed to get the dishes done so at least there was that. Malfoy stood awkwardly in her living room, appearing almost as though he wished he hadn't forced himself into her home.

She realized after they arrived that she had no idea where the list was. She had finished the book over a month ago and hadn't looked at any of her notes since then. She turned to Malfoy with an odd look on her face.

"What?" he said.

"I don't know where it is," she said.

"I thought you said you had the list here."

"I do have it here, I don't have it out and ready though. I wasn't expecting to have you force your way in and start demanding that I give you my stuff!" Hermione said feeling exasperated.

"Well, I guess I'll just try to make myself comfortable while you find it then," Draco said looking disapprovingly around her living room.

Hermione turned on her heel and walked into her bedroom in a huff. Malfoy really was a spoiled brat. He expected everyone else to walk around and get him whatever he wanted. She didn't know why she was even doing this for him, she just wanted him to leave her alone. She hoped that after she did him this favour he would do just that.

She quickly started rummaging through her desk. She found all sorts of interesting things, including a Quidditch Book that Harry had given her for her fifteenth birthday. She smiled to herself, Harry never had learned the art of gift-giving. She kept looking and came across a few sheets of notes, but not the list. She came back into the living room to find Draco glaring at her television. Feeling spiteful, she grabbed the remote and flicked it on.

"Shit!" Draco yelled, jumping off the couch as the sound blared through the room.

Hermione had to lean on the wall to steady herself because she was laughing so hard.

"You think it's funny do you? What the hell is that thing?" Draco demanded.

"It's a television, it's not going to eat you!" Hermione said, resuming her search.

She looked in all of the drawing and cupboards in the kitchen but she still could not find it. She really needed to invest in a filing cabinet to keep all of her things in order. Suddenly she remembered where it was. She ran back into the living room and pulled open the drawer in the bottom of her coffee table.

"Found it! Malfoy?" she asked when he didn't respond.

"What are these?" he asked.

Hermione turned and found that he was holding Professor Snape's notes in his lap. He had begun flipping through them.

"Stop!" Hermione yelled. "No one is supposed to know that I have those! They're confidential."

"What are they?" he asked looking confused.

"They're Professor Snape's notes."

"What?" Draco said looking utterly shocked.

* * *

AN: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter - I added this chapter to thank you guys!

I know it's short, but it does explain a few things. :)

It might be a few weeks now before I add a new chapter to this story or my other one, I'll try not to keep you guys waiting too long.

Please review this chapter and let me know what you thought.

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